Knitting machine



933. F. TANSKI KNITTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 10, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR .F/Sfl/V/f flux/5m B Y Y 1 j i I A TTORNE Y Jan. 24,1933. TAN$K| 1,894,965

KNITT-ING MACHINE Filed Jan. 10, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 T11 E i.

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"I" lllnh n" l Patented Jan. 24, 1933 PATENT OFFICE FRANK TANSKI, OF MASPETH, NEW YORK KNITTING MACHINE Application filed January 10, 1930. Serial No. 419,757.

My invention relates to knitting machines, and particularly to circular knitting machines of the type in whicha continuous rotary motion is imparted to the cam cylinder.

The apparatus to which my invention is applicable is adapted for use in the production of so-called'tubular stock, orknitted goods from which are patterned articles of the class of sweaters and similar knitted novelties. In themanufacture of such tubular Work, the circular series of needles'in the needle cylinder are actuated by knitting cams upon a revolving cam ring positioned circumferentially of the needle cylinder. In other types 13 of circular knitting machi'nesfthe needle cylinder revolves and the cam ring is stationary. The invention, more specifically, relates to improvements in the pattern controlling mechanism of the sinkers of the knitting machine, comprising the pattern wheel and associated parts, and consists in certain new and useful constructions, combinations, and structural features thereof;

B An object of the invention is to provide an apparatus by means of which a new and novel effect in the pattern designs usually imparted to knitted goods of the character indicated is obtained. A more specific object of the invention is to provide the usual circular knitting machine employed in producing tubular work having patterns of a pile or loop knitted in or upon a knitted fabric with a novel com-.

bination of pattern wheel or plurality of wheels and associated mechanism on the same feed whereby the various known forms of patterns, i. e., diagonal, straight, and figured, (including gaining and losing patterns) and any combination of any or all of them, may be produced in a given piece of goods on all feeds simultaneously without adjustment, interchange of parts, or series of separate operations in the same or different machines being necessary. It is a still further object of the invention to providea knitting apparatus in which agreater range in the size and distribution of the'patterns formed by the pile in the knitted goods is afforded than has been possible with existing knitting machines. Other objects of the invention-will be apparent from the description hereinafter.

The invention, broadly speaking, consists 1n the provision of a circular knitting machlne, W1th a plurality of pattern forming wheels and mechanism associated therewith on each feed for theperformance of their functions and the attainment thereby of the above objects. In the drawings, in which one form of my invent on is illustrated and in which similar reference characters identify similar parts in the several views, Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a circular knitting machine embodying my invention, showing a segment of the needle cylinder with my improvements applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the portion of the knitting machine shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a full-size section along line 4-4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a plan View of one of the pattern wheels, with a portion of its cover plate cut away to expose the manner in which the'jacks are used to fill the inoperativeslots of said wheel; Fig. 6 illustrates the type of pattern produced in accordance with my invention when two pat- 7 tern wheels are employed; and Fig. 7 shows the pattern produced by the use of three pattern wheels.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1O designates the bed of the knitting machine; 11' the needle cylinder su ported thereon and rigidly fixed thereto as y bolt 12; 13, the rotatable cam ring. The cam ring is rotated by virtue of its fixed position on the gear ring 14, having teeth 15 meshing with the teeth 16 of a bevel gear 17 aifixed to the" driving shaft 18. The cam ring is provided with the usual cams including the stitch cam 19, the adjacent raising cam 20, and the supporting ledge or. needle rest cam 21. The stitch cam 19 is formed on or secured to a stitch cam post 22 slidingly fitted in a. vertical-slot in the wall of a section of the cam ring. Projecting outwardly from the post 22 is an arm 23 provided at its free end with an aperture through which is passed an adjustable bolt 24 with a nut 25 at its outer end and supporting the spring 26 whereby the cam 19 is maintained normall depressed. To the cam ring 13 is attache by threaded bolt 27 the bracket 28 for supporting the pattern forming mechanism. This mechanism, in the embodiment of my invention illustrated, comprises two pattern wheels 29 and 30 superimposed upon each other with a third such wheel 31 positioned above said wheels and disposed at an angle to the plane thereof by means of the angle zontal adjustment within slot 28 of the arm 29. For circumferential adjustment of the pattern wheels, the bolt 27 is loosened and the arm 29' ,moved to the right or left (Fig. 3) the distance necessary for effecting the adjustment, after which the bolt 27 may be tightened. The entire group of pattern wheels being mounted on the bracket 30 of the arm 29', such groupof pattern wheels may be adjusted 'circumferentially of the needle cylinder. Thus, it will be seen that the pattern wheels 29 and 30 may be adjusted withintheslot formed by the forked members 33 and. 36, in a direction radial tothe needle cylinder, and may also be ad usted, by the meansyjust descr1bed in a d1rect1on circumferential of the needle cylinder. For a vertical adjustment of the pattern mechanism, the'hole for receiving screw 27 1n bracket 28, is made larger than the diameter of the screw, so that the pattern wheels may I be adjusted radially, circumferentially and vertically, either independently or in com bination.

The needle cylinder is provided with the usual type of latch knitting needle 37 arranged around the periphery of the needle cylinder in the well-known manner. As

clearly shown in Fig. 2, the butt 38 of the needle is in operative position just before being drawn down by stitch cam 19. After the needles have engaged their proper loop they are drawn down by stitch cam 19 and then raised by the cam 20 so that their latches will escape their engaged loops of thread. The manner of using the circular knlttlng machine to which my invention relates is so well known in the art, that a detailed explanation here of its functioning is deemed unnecessary.

' Turning now to the description of the pattern forming mechanism comprising the substanceof my invention, it is to be noted that I donot claimas new the use of the particular form of pattern wheel with which I provide my im roved knitting machine. As a matter of act, the use of a pattern wheel of the type shown in the drawings is not original with me, a single wheel of the type described having been used for some time with circular knitting machines. My invention consists, rather, in the provision of a circular knittin machine with a plurality of such wheels, an

the mechanism making possible the .use of a combination of two or more of such wheels on one feed. With a single wheel, as heretofore used, it has been possible to obtain a design of a single character on a pile fabric formed by the relative portions of the sinkers and the stitch-forming needle, for instance, a pattern running in a single direction, as

diagonal in one or the other direction, or a straight vertical pattern or a figrured pattern employing either of these. ith my improved construction, I make it possi 1e to knit either of these patterns or any combination without the limitation thereof as to the range of size or distribution throughout the material to which such design is to be applied characterizing the use of a single pattern wheel. The use of a single wheel, as in the prior art, restricts the range of the pattern in both size and distribution, as is well known to those. skilled in the art. With a plurality of pattern wheels, as employed in my improved apparatus, I attain an individual sinker control so that I am enabled to vary the combination of pattern forming operations to produce the desired pattern effects.

As is well known, the pattern design on pile knitted goods is produced by a raised stitch, i. e. whatever area is occupied by the design consists of stitches the top thread of which has been raised above the level of the remaining portions of the knitted material by the action of a sinker, such as is shown in half size in Fig. 2 and in full size in Fig. 4. This sinker 39 is pushed in position intermediate two adjacent needles on the needle cylinder by the action of a 'ack 40 (Fig. 4) in abutting against the shoulder 41 of the sinker. .The jacks are distributed, as required, throughout the periphery of the pattern wheel, to act as fillers for those of the slots in such wheel which are not to be operative in the formation of the standard stitch. Each individual sinker, collectively disposed in the sinker dial cap 42 (a portion of which is cut away to receive the pattern wheels) is moved radially for each stitch by the cam 43.

Each of the three pattern wheels hereinabove described is provided with cuts or slots along its periphery which mesh with the sinkers 39 at the point where sinker dial cap 42. is cut away. The meshing of the sinkers with the pattern wheel slots serve to revolve such wheels by virtue of the stationary position of the sinker as against the rotation of the cam ring 13. Where a pattern is desired in the knitted fabric, the jacks 40 are placed in the wheel slots. Where the slots are left open, i. e. no jacks are placed therein, the sinkers do not move forward any further than the depth set by cam 43. The needles on each side of these sinkers form a plain jersey stitch, both the back thread running through carrier 44 and a loop thread through looper 45 being engaged by the needles and drawn down over the throat 46 of the sinker. I/Vhere a pile is desired, the jacks are placed in the slots to push the sinkers forward so that the loop end running through the looper 45 of the carrier 44 is carried over the point or nose 47 of the sinker. The location of jacks 40 in the slots of the wheel thus determines the pile patterns.

The formation of the pile fabric is accomplished by utilizing both of the separate threads shown in dotted lines at the feed station illustrated in Fig. 1. One of' said threads 48 runs under the nose 47 of the sinker While the other, 49, of said threads, runs over the top of said sinker. While both of these threads are fed into the hook or latch 50 of the needle 37, some of the sinkers separate the two threads by being pushed between the lower and upper threads, preventing the knitting together of such threads. \Vhcre, therefore, the sinkers do not separate the threads, a plain jersey stitch will be formed while at the places where the sinkers separate the top thread from the bottom or body thread, the upper thread will knit over the top of the sinker and thus produce the ile.

The method of determining the character of the pattern which will be obtained by the use of a particular combination of slots and filling jacks is as follows: Assuming that there are 900 sinkers in a cylinder, to make a diagonal pattern running to the right, the number of slots in a pattern wheel should be exactly divisible in a number greater than 900. For a diagonal pattern running to the left, thenumber of slots in a pattern wheel should be exactly divisible in a number less than 900. For a straight pattern, the number of slots in a pattern wheel should be exactly divisible in 900. For a figured pattern, the number of slots in a pattern wheel should be divisible in 900, leaving over a number which is divisible in the number of slots in the wheel.

Heretofore, with one pattern wheel to a feed, it was possible to obtain only one of these patterns. When using a plurality of wheels at one feed, in accordance with my invention, it is possible to have such a combination of the number of slots in each wheel on each feed that any two or more of the patterns hereinabove described may be obtained at each feed.

While I have illustrated my invention as embodying three pattern wheels, it is obvious that a combination of two wheels for each feed, while productive of a design embodying a two-directional pattern such as shown in Fig. 6, whereas a combination of the three wheels will produce the pattern shown in Fig. 7, which embraces all three types of design hereinabove referred to, i. e. diagonal, straight, and figured or a running combination thereof, the use of only two wheels is optional, depending upon the character of pattern desired. Also, while I have shown and described the third pattern wheel 31 as disposed at any angle to the plane of the other two, it is obvious that such inclination is merely a preferred form which I have .found expedient. By making the sinker body of sufiicient depth to permit a horizontally disposed third wheel to engage the same, such third wheel may be obviously constructed to occupy a horizontal position, as do the other pattern wheels.

I claim:

1. In a circular knitting machine having a thread feeding station, the combination with the thread feeding mechanism of a pplurality of pattern wheels, each of said wheels being supported in a forked member for adjustment radially with respect to the needle cylinder and to each other.

2. In acircular knitting machine having a thread feeding station, the combination with the thread feeding mechanism of a plurality of pattern wheels, each of said wheels being supported in a forked member for adjustment radially with respect to the needle cylinder and to each other, and means for adjusting Vertically the pattern mechanism comprising said wheels and associated parts.

In a circular knitting machine, the combination with each thread feeding mechanism of a plurality of pattern wheels and means for adjusting said plurality of wheels radially, tangentially, and vertically, either independently, or in combination.

4. In a circular knitting machine having a sinker dial cap, and sinkers having two levels, one of which is operative to produce pile, the combination with each thread feeding mechanism of a pattern wheel provided with slots throughout its periphery, certain of said slots being inoperative to form the standard stitch, jacks in such inoperative 'slots for engaging the shoulder of sinkers meshing with the operative slots of said wheel, a second pattern wheel, provided with slots operative and inoperative, superimposed upon said first wheel and having jacks distributed within the inoperative slots in such relation to the distribution of the. jacks in the lower pattern wheel that the combined action of the jacks upon the sinkers produces atwo-directional pile pattern on the knitted fabric, the pattern mechanism being adapted 130 to move said sinkers radially to determine which of the levels of said sinkers shall be operable on one of the threads.

5. In a circular knitting machine having a sinker dial cap, and sinkers having two levels, one of which is operative to produce pile, the combination with each thread feeding mechanism of a pattern wheel provided with slots throughout its periphery, certain of said slots being inoperative to form the standard stitch, jacks in such inoperative slots for engaging the shoulders of sinkers meshing with the operative slots of said wheel, a second pattern wheel, provided with slots operative and inoperative, superimposed upon said first wheel and havin jacks distributed within the inoperative s ots in such relation to the distribution of the jacks in the lower pattern wheel that the combined action of the jacks upon the sinkers produces a two-directional pile pattern on the knitted fabric, and a third pattern wheel superimposed upon the two first mentioned wheels and similarly provided with jacks to produce a three-directional pile pattern on the knitted fabric, the pattern mechanism being adapted to move said sinkers radially to determine which of the levels of said sinkers shall be operable on one of the threads.

6. In a circular knitting machine having a sinker dial cap, and sinkers having two levels, one of which is operative to produce pile, the combination with each thread feeding mechanism of a pattern wheel provided with slots throughout its periphery, certain of said slots being inoperative to form the standard stitch, jacks in such inoperative slots for engaging the shoulder of sinkers meshing with the operative slots of said wheel, a second pattern wheel, provided with slots operative and inoperative, superimposed upon said first wheel and having jacks distributed within the inoperative slots in such relation to the distribution of the jacks in the lower pattern wheel that the combined action of the jacks upon the sinkers produces a two-directional pile pattern on the knitted fabric, and a third pattern wheel superimof said slots being inoperative to form the standard stitch, acks in such inoperative slots foriengaging the shoulder of sinkers meshing with the operative slots of said wheel, a second pattern wheel, provided with slots operative and inoperative, superimposed upon said first wheel and having jacks distributed within the inoperative slots in such relation to the distribution of the jacks in the lower pattern wheel that the combined action of the jacks upon the sinkers produces a two-directional pile pattern on the knitted fabric, and a third pattern wheel superimposed upon the two first mentioned wheels and similarly provided with jacks to produce a three-directional pattern on the knitted fabric, said three pattern wheels and associated mechanism producing, by the pile in the knitted goods, any combination of diagonal, straight, and figured pile patterns, the pattern mechanism being adapted to move said sinkers radially to determine which of the levels. of said sinkers shall be operable on one of the threads.

8. In a circular knitting machine having a thread feeding station, the combination with the thread feeding mechanism of a plurality of pattern wheels, each of said wheels being supported in a forked member for adj ustment circumferentially with respect to the needle cylinder and to each other.

9. In a circular knitting inachine having a thread feeding station, the combination ,with the thread feeding mechanism of a plurality of pattern wheels, each of said wheels being supported in a forked member for ad justment circumferentially with respect to the needle cylinder andto each other, and

means for adjusting vertically the pattern mechanism comprising said wheels and associated parts.

FRANK TANSKI.

posed upon the two first mentioned wheels and similarly provided with jacks to produce athree-directional pile pattern on the knltted fabric, said third wheel being disposed at an angle to the plane of the two first mentioned wheels and separated therefrom by a wedge element, the pattern mechanism being adapted to move said sinkers radially to determine which of the levels of said sinkers shall be operable on one of the threads.

7. In a circular knitting machine having a sinker dial cap, and sinkers having twov X levels, one of which is operative to produce pile, the combination with each thread feeding mechanism of a pattern wheel provided with slots throughout its periphery, certain 

